In four games this year, Siggers and Lillis each have drawn their second foul in the first half. UAlbany has lost three of those contests.

It held true in Wednesday’s 75-57 loss to VCU, when Lillis earned his second with 9:59 left in the first half and Siggers got No. 2 with 8:51 remaining. Both had to sit, and not coincidentally, the Rams closed the half with a 17-4 run.

”We’ve got to stop having Jason Siggers and Brian Lillis pick up two fouls early in every game now,” UAlbany coach Will Brown said. ”They got to sit for long periods of time. We need Brian and Jason on the floor. Every game now, two fouls early, and it gets us out of a rhythm. You hope they have a positive mindset, but when you sit for long periods of time, then you go into halftime, then you’ve got to get yourself going again, I think it’s tough.”

It probably had something to do with VCU grabbing 14 offensive rebounds in the first half because Lillis and Siggers are two of the team’s top three rebounders.

Lillis has been especially quick to draw the whistle. He was called for his first foul 18 seconds into the Bucknell game, 17 seconds into the Delaware contest, 2:07 into the Sacred Heart game, 48 seconds into the UConn game and 1:57 into the VCU contest.

*Against VCU, UAlbany made all its free throws (10 for 10) for the first time in the Division I era when attempting 10 or more in a game. Too bad the Great Danes weren’t that proficient against Siena or they might have won the double-overtime game.

*Brett Gifford, the 6-foot-11 freshman, started despite having his knee drained on Monday but had no rebounds in 24 minutes.